Seliger addresses education, tax issues at Martin County town hall

Kathleen ThurberStaff Writer

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, August 24, 2009

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Seliger addresses education, tax issues at Martin County town hall

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Residents concerned about school district funding, mineral appraisals and health care gathered Tuesday to address Sen. Kel Seliger as he stopped in Martin County as part of his districtwide tour following the Texas Legislature's 81st session.

Their concerns, Seliger said, were fairly representative of what he's been hearing across his district thus far and are issues he wants to hear so he's better able to understand and work for his constituents.

"You've been seeing people stand up and yell at all these town hall meetings, so if you feel the need to do that, go ahead," Seliger said, joking to the about 20-person crowd that was mostly calm throughout the hourlong meeting despite some slight disagreements with the senator.

Explaining work completed during the previous legislative session, Seliger said $1.9 billion was added in the budget for public schools and raises for teachers also were approved.

Stanton Independent School District Superintendent David Carr, though, said those teacher raises were approved without additional funding being provided to schools - a point on which he and Seliger disagreed.

Carr said the state allocated Stanton ISD about $253,000 in stimulus money but took away that much in previous state funding. This, he said, meant the school district has not actually received any new money and has strings attached to the money it was given to use.

"There are no new monies coming to our district to pay for that increase," Carr said, adding the federal government recommended stimulus funds not be used for salaries.

A recommendation, Seliger said, is not a mandate so those funds could have been used for salaries. After the one-time stimulus money is used, Seliger said, districts including Stanton ISD should know those funds will be replaced with state dollars. The stimulus money, he said, had to go to schools, which is why it was allocated in place of state money this once.

"Nobody wants to reduce funding for public schools," he said.

Another issue addressed but not entirely resolved for those posing questions concerned the rates at which minerals are appraised. Locals said the current appraisal rate of oil, which has a base of around $34, is not representative of the true value and means small counties like theirs will be left with significantly fewer funds to finance local services.

"The way it is right now you've created some hardships," said resident Bryan Cox. He said he understood values will be lower because of lower oil prices, but said the appraisal value should be representative of a longer period of time so oil companies aren't getting away without paying much into the county even after their profits have increased.

Seliger agreed the system is not perfect and said nothing else that's taxed is fluid the way energy is in its price, which can make it a challenge to find its true value.

During the interim, Seliger said, a study will be conducted to see if the formula currently used for mineral appraisals is fair. In the end, though, he said, the comptroller's office handles mineral appraisals.

Residents did agree with Seliger on the benefits of a bill passed that will allow for the Martin County Hospital District to hire doctors.

"For a lot of rural counties, this is the best way for them to get health care," said Seliger, describing the bill that was passed after being added as an amendment to a House bill.

The hospital district's Chief Executive Officer Paul McKinney said the passing of the bill will give them the ability to recruit a doctor to the local hospital, which is important in working to provide care without having to send patients to Midland.

Martin County was the only rural county to receive this designation after the legislative session, and Seliger said it will serve as a model for how this system can work when other rural counties bring their requests back during the next session.

Resistance, he said, comes from larger cities who don't understand doctor shortages and see giving hiring power to hospital districts as a dangerous move because of the potential for doctors to be influenced in the way they provide care.

"In a rural county where you don't have a specialist for everything, what do you do?" Seliger said.

Some at the meeting - including one couple who followed Seliger from his earlier Howard County meeting - complained access to health care has not been available and that even with a doctor they still lack specialists and others at the hospital that can meet their needs.

Part of those problems arise, Seliger said, because hospitals make their money from larger procedures like surgeries. Most rural districts, he said, say even if they had specialists their population typically would still go to bigger cities like Midland or Dallas, which in turn means they can't afford to employ multiple specialized health care professionals.

Several Stanton residents, including one woman who's been coming to Seliger's town hall meetings since his election in 2004, said they appreciate his taking time to meet with them, even if a few said they were disappointed to walk away without their questions clearly answered.

"This is not a speech by me this is a chance to sort of learn what's going on in your community," Seliger said.